


What Allison Reynolds Knows About Belonging (Moving on and Healing Remix)

by Autumnalpalmetto



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: F/F, Getting Together, Some minor violence, some minor injuries
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-25
Updated: 2019-10-25
Packaged: 2021-01-03 08:42:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,174
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21176600
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Autumnalpalmetto/pseuds/Autumnalpalmetto
Summary: Having her car totaled should be the worst part of Allison's day, but of course, that would be too easy. Maybe Renee can help turn her day around.





	What Allison Reynolds Knows About Belonging (Moving on and Healing Remix)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [loose_canon](https://archiveofourown.org/users/loose_canon/gifts).
  * Inspired by [What Allison Reynolds Knows About Belonging](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20126416) by [loose_canon](https://archiveofourown.org/users/loose_canon/pseuds/loose_canon). 

Allison walked down the stairs and out to the parking lot with the rest of the students, sauntering with an air of confidence. There was a crowd already blocking her view of the car, and by the time she got there, she was pissed. She didn’t let it show. If her upbringing had taught her anything, it was how to keep her emotions in check in front of a crowd. A knock on her door had woken her up early, one of the soccer players confirming what she suspected Dan hearing about on the phone. While Dan went to rouse the others, Allison went down by herself. 

The parking lot was chaotic, with flashing lights from police cars and every athlete from the building rushing out. By the time Dan and the rest of the team made their way out, Allison had already gotten the full story from the soccer player who’d called the cops. 

A gang of Raven groupies had trashed every Palmetto athletes car, paying special attention to the Exy team’s vehicles. While her car wasn’t the worst—that would be that monster’s—it was a close second. It would cost a fortune to fix, especially since she was going to have it expedited, but she had to show the Ravens that their little stunt meant nothing to her. 

Between the gawkers and the damage to the car, she couldn’t take another stress. Then Aaron had to open his mouth. Normally, she could have controlled her reaction to almost anything, and even in that moment, nearly nothing could have set her off.

Except Seth.

Seth was always the exception though, wasn’t he? 

Aaron said the one thing that could have possibly gotten to her, and her hand was moving before she even fully comprehended what his words meant. She didn’t even have time to feel the sting of her hand hitting his cheek before she was on the ground. 

Her arm was bent behind her back so roughly it was falling asleep. Someone shoved her head forward to the point that she could barely breathe. Someone else knelt in front of her and hugged her tightly, but she couldn’t see or hear who it was because of the angle that her head was at, especially with arms covering her ears now. It was probably Renee because only Andrew would do something like this to a teammate. Only Renee would be daring enough to get this close to him when he did. There was a tense muffled conversation she couldn’t make out. Not because it was quiet and muted, but because it clearly was not in English. 

Eventually, the rough hand on her arm and the grip on her neck disappeared. It couldn’t have been more than 30 seconds, but she gasped like it had choked her. Renee gently hugged her firmly. It was a weird mixture, firm and gentle. Everything about Renee was a weird mixture. 

Renee led her over to Dan and Matt who wrapped her in another hug between them. Now that she was out of the situation, she could feel all the little points of pain her brain hadn’t registered at the moment. Her knees were definitely skinned, and her palms were scratched to hell. The wrist Andrew had grabbed was pounding She’d have fingerprint bruises for a week, at least. Her shoulder was throbbing too, but it didn’t feel like anything was broken.

As the team argued and Wymack intervened, Allison kept her face calm and collected. Anger was sure to be burning behind her eyes, but that’s just how she liked it. People were more frightened of her if she kept her face even and let her eyes show the rest. 

Wymack came over and talked to them. Dan chewed out the monsters. A group of police officers asked questions, then campus security, and finally: Allison got to place an extremely frustrating call into her insurance. 

When they went upstairs Allison watched Neil follow the monsters into their room. She didn’t understand how he could stand to spend so much time around them. She followed Renee and Dan into Matt’s room to collect the comprehensive first aid kit he had for all of Neil’s various injuries he’d sustained over the break. With the kit in hand, Allison led Renee to their room so they could get to work. 

Allison stripped off her dirty dress and changed into a baggy T-shirt that had been Seth’s. 

“Hey,” Renee said with a soft smile when she walked into the bathroom. “Sit on the toilet and I’ll get you all cleaned up.”

Allison couldn’t help looking at her reflection in the mirror as she walked over and sat down. Bruises were already starting to form on the back of her neck, and they were going to be a bitch to cover up without help. Renee and Dan were decent with makeup, but neither of them knew how to cover a bruise completely and flawlessly. 

Renee started with her neck, softly brushing her hair out of her face and holding it to the side with one hand. “Where does it hurt?”

“My neck doesn’t hurt that much,” Allison said. She looked at the flecks of green in Renee’s soft brown eyes as she looked over her neck. Renee ghosted her hand over the bruise and Allison barely held back her shiver. They’d touched like this before, taking care of each other’s cuts and bruises, but this felt different. The touch was almost electric as Renee ran her hand over it again then turned to grab some arnica lotion. 

“You don’t need to treat me like I’m dying. I just need twenty minutes and a beauty blender and I’ll be good to go.”

“Your hand and knees are bleeding. Hold your hair up.” Renee never let her get away with lying. She gently rubbed the lotion over the entire area as Allison used her good arm to hold her hair. 

When she was done with the bruise, Renee moved onto Allison’s hands without looking her in the eye. It was strange, Renee had never been one to avoid eye contact; if anything she kept it too long. 

“I should have been faster,” Renee said, so softly Allison almost missed it. 

“No,” Allison said firmly. “He shouldn’t have fucking attacked me.”

Renee kept her eyes low as she spread antibacterial cream on Allison’s hands. “I understand where he’s coming from.” Allison scoffed, causing Renee to almost smile for a moment. “I do. Where we are from, people don’t hit once. They hit again, and again, and again until they get all the anger out. I know you wouldn’t do that, but he doesn’t. It takes a long time to get rid of that reflex and he’s only a few weeks into his recovery journey.”

“How long did it take you?” Allison asked. She ignored any sort of empathy she may have felt for Andrew after hearing that. “To learn not everyone is like that?” 

“Years. I’m not sure I do know, not all the time at least.” Renee looked small then. Not because she was kneeling between Allison’s legs on the floor, but because she looked so fragile. Allison felt the sharp sting in her chest that always came with seeing Renee look so helpless. Allison was the one who was hurt, and yet Renee was the one who was hurting because of it. 

Allison reached out with her free hand and tucked Renee’s hair behind her ears. Renee rarely talked about her life before she had been adopted. They all knew the story and there was nothing more to say, but it clearly had a lasting effect on her. She had the sort of kindness that only came from knowing exactly how cruel the world could be. 

Renee looked up at her and smiled, moving onto cleaning up her knees without saying a word. Watching Renee work was peaceful. She was fluid and graceful in all her movements, gently pressing alcohol pads and rubbing Neosporin on the small wounds. They didn’t need much attention; they were just raw. But Allison was not about to stop Renee from caring for her, particularly if Renee was doing it because she felt like Allison getting hurt was her fault. She may not have been fast enough, but there was no way she could have been. She would have had to start moving before Allison had to stop the dramatic chain of events. 

“Hey,” Allison said to get Renee to look at her. “I think you’re supposed to kiss it better.”

“Oh, of course.” Renee smiled as Allison finally caught her eye. “It heals so much faster that way.”

Renee pressed a gentle kiss to her knee and Allison’s heart jumped. When she pressed another kiss to the other knee, Allison’s mouth went dry. Renee smiled up at her brightly, her solemn mood almost forgotten. As she turned and packed away the first aid kit, Allison watched her with a newfound fondness.

The electric touch, the sting in her chest at Renee’s pain, and the sense of calm she felt in Renee’s presence all rearranged themselves in her mind. In the months since Seth died, Allison hadn’t even looked at another person. She knew Seth would want her to move on and be happy, a few of their breakups had been because Seth felt like she could do better, but it wasn’t easy to put into practice. 

Renee had snuck up on her. Looking back it was obvious, but Allison had been too focused on not losing herself after Seth to notice. When Renee turned to put some more arnica on her bruise, Allison took a chance. If she was wrong, it would ruin a beautiful friendship, but if she was right, it would make her life so much better. 

As Renee started gathering Allison’s long blonde hair up, Allison leaned into the touch; keeping Renee from her task. Instead, Renee held her cheek and ran her other hand through her hair. They’d done this after Seth died too. Abby had started it when Allison had stayed with her, and it was such a comfort that she’d asked Renee to do it when she went back to the tower. She never cried in front of the boys, but in her own room, she didn’t have to hide from Dan and Renee. 

Slowly, Allison closed her eyes and enjoyed the moment, gathering the courage for her next move. She carefully tilted her head and kissed Renee’s wrist. 

“Thank you for taking care of me.” She felt a slight smile form on her face. “You didn’t have to do that.”

“I’m sorry, this wouldn’t have happened if I was paying more attention.”

“Stop,” Allison said softly but firmly. “You can’t take responsibility for other people’s actions.”

Renee smiled at her and stood up, so Allison followed suit. Once they were both standing, the cramped bathroom seemed so much smaller. Allison reached out and pulled Renee in for a tight hug, then pressed a kiss to her cheek to top it off. She was exhausted after controlling her reactions earlier and being tossed to the ground like a rag doll. All she wanted to do was take a nap with Renee, but knowing their friends that was never going to happen. They’d want to talk it through and use it as a team bonding experience. Well, upperclassmen and Neil bonding experience.

“Allison,” Renee warned. She’d let the wrist kiss go without comment, but she seemed more tense with the added cheek kiss. “You’re not thinking straight. After everything that’s happened today, and the last few weeks even, you can’t do something you’ll regret.”

Allison snorted. People had been telling her what she was supposed to do and think her entire life, and she had never put up with it. She wasn’t going to start now. “I know what I’m doing. I know what I want. If you don’t want to then you can just say it, but don’t use what you think I might possibly be feeling as an excuse.” When Renee chuckled self consciously, Allison brought a hand up to cup her cheek. “All you have to do it say no, and I’ll drop it forever.”

“I don’t want to say no,” Renee said as she looked her in the eye. She looked happy and sad at the same time. “But I think it might be too soon, and you might be riding the adrenaline high, and it all might be too-”

Allison cut her off with a kiss. She’d warned Renee not to use “might be” as an excuse, and she hadn’t listened. Renee kissed her back quickly, packing all of her unspoken feelings into the action. The risk was worth the reward tenfold. Renee pulled her closer, breaking the kiss to lay her head on her shoulder and hug her tightly. 

“Tell me this isn’t a stress reaction,” Renee said into her collarbone.

Allison pressed a kiss into her hair and hugged her tighter. “This is real.”


End file.
